Many consumer electronic devices have functions that are controlled in whole or in part by voice commands issued by a human voice. This voice control allows users to operate the devices without the use of the user's hands and with fewer buttons or switches on the device.
Such devices may require an always-listening mode so that the device may “hear” and capture the voice commands. Thus, in the always listening mode, the device is on and waits for a voice command. The quality of an always-listening function is generally measured by two metrics: the overall average current consumption and the voice-command misdetection rate.
Embodiments of the invention address shortcomings in existing devices.